


I Never Really Let You Go

by Nocticola



Series: Hallmark/Lifetime [4]
Category: Playing House (TV Movie 2006)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, I've only seen this movie once but I love it so much, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy, child birth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:40:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28260108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nocticola/pseuds/Nocticola
Summary: Frannie and Calvin have been dating a few months when Frannie finds herself pregnant. They have to figure out how to be parents and whether that's the only reason they're together. Calvin knows it isn't. Frannie's not as sure.Calvin pov.
Series: Hallmark/Lifetime [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031991
Comments: 5
Kudos: 1





	I Never Really Let You Go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GreyHaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyHaven/gifts).



> I've only watched this movie once (Dec 22nd) and I can't rewatch it because it's nowhere online that's available to me and I don't have the dvd yet (I am super tempted to order it through Australian ebay lol), so some stuff, especially after hospital to the break up, is possibly out of order and the lines aren't exact.  
> If I ever get to watch this again I'll edit out the mistakes.

Even though Calvin Halver Puddy has only been with Francesca 'Frannie' MacKenzie for a few months, he already knows he's in love with her. They don't really talk about it though. Mostly Frannie treat their thing as just a hook up. She comes to his experimental, found instruments jazz concerts, they hang out and bang their brains out. She's on the pill, though her current one doesn't seem to be very suitable to her. But Calvin is pretty sure she does feel the same he does, she's just not willing to admit it. If she didn't, they would just break up before the tour. 

Calvin knows he needs to go on this tour, though he is loathe to leave Frannie behind. He will miss her like crazy. He wants to tell her he loves her but she's not ready for that. He won't expect fidelity, not this early, not when Frannie is really not ready. But he lets her know about her feelings in other ways.

"I'm looking you up when I get back." 

Frannie doesn't seem put off by that notion. Good. He wants to come back to her. 

\--- 

It takes him a while to be able to call her. Touring is hectic and the connection is often terrible. But he misses her, so he calls as soon as he gets a moment. 

"You knocked me up, Calvin! " Frannie yells at him over the phone. He senses some real frustration and annoyance in her voice. This is not what he wanted to happen. But before he can say anything, the call disconnects. Fuck. 

He looks at his phone, feeling both excited and numb.

"Frannie's pregnant," he says quietly to no one in particular.

"What?" His drummer asks. 

"Frannie's pregnant with my kid," he says more clearly now, a smile splitting his face. He's gonna be a dad! 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes, she just yelled at me for knocking her up," Calvin says, irritaded. 

"Well, that's pretty clear." 

"I gotta go." 

"What? You can't leave, we're in the middle of a tour!" 

"No, I have to. She's having my kid. And I think she thinks I just hang up on her. I gotta fix this." 

"You're sure?" 

"Of course I'm sure!" 

"OK, OK! Let's get you back to New York." 

\---

It takes him a few days to fly back. He's not made of money and needs to get a cheap flight.

The moment he gets back to New York, he takes a taxi to Frannie's place. He is still carrying all his luggage when he bangs on her door.

"Frannie!!" 

Suddenly the door opens and Marina is there.

"You better be here because you want to make an honest woman of Frannie. Because otherwise, I've slept with people who know people." Marina does a 'I'm watching you' gesture with her fingers. 

Calvin is still jetlagged and confused, "Huh?" 

"This is me giving you the shovel talk." 

"Oh. Right. No, I mean, yes, I am here for Frannie and the baby. Where are they?" 

"... Not here." 

"So... where?" 

Marina looks back inside her apartment like she was figuring out what to do. 

"Marina. I love Frannie. I love this baby, and I want to be with them. Where are they?" Calvin doesn't worry about sounding too needy. He will beg Marina on his knees if he has to. 

"You know, I actually buy that from you. You never even looked at all this," gesture at her body. Calvin just gives her a confused stare. 

"Like that. Alright, she's in Toronto. Someone had a birthday, she told her family she's pregnant and then turns out her visa expired." 

"Expired?" 

"Two years ago." 

Calvin's not sure how to react.

"So she has to stay in Canada for like a year." 

Calvin licks his lips. "OK. Canada. I can do that. Can you give me her parents' address?" 

"I..." 

"Marina... I need to be there for her." 

"Alright. But I meant the shovel talk." 

"I know and if I fuck this up, I'll hold you to it." 

\---

When he sits on the plane, he realizes he probably should have called her again. But everything happened so fast and he didn't want another dropped call to mess things up further.

But none of that matters when he arrives at Frannie's parents' place. The timing is perfect because Frannie is getting the mail right as his taxi leaves him. She looks beautiful. Exhausted but beautiful. 

He's not sure how she will react to seeing him. He's happy she decides to run straight into his arms. He had just enough time to drop his baggage. He's missed her so much. The hug goes on and on. He doesn't mind but he needs to know.

"Are you gonna let go?" 

"No." 

"OK." He just gathers his things and carries her to her parents' house. 

First impressions? They are loaded. Huge house with a pool. His family's history of meat packers and his current career as experimental jazz musician isn't looking very good. Damn, he hasn't had this bad 'meet the parents' before. 

It's good that her parents like jazz but he knows he just comes off 'not good enough' to them. He should have talked about the rake as an instrument instead of the balloon. It's relatively less weird. 

Even though he is clearly not what they wanted for their daughter, they accept that he's here and wants to be there for their daughter and their grandchild. It could be worse. And since the so called 'the worst' has already happened, they don't try to separate them into different rooms. It could be a lot worse. 

\---

The next months go by both too quickly and too slowly. They do everything they can to prepare for parenthood. They read and reread dozens of books. Calvin is on the phone with his Mom all the time. 

They have no interest in finding out the gender and they don't really think of names. Except the last name. That's a bit of an issue with them. Frannie is determined that their child gets her name. Calvin tries not to read too much into it. He will be in their child's life as much as possible and maybe it makes sense that the kid gets Frannie's name before they actually figure out their relationship status. 

(Sometimes, he wonders if he likes the name 'Calvin Halver MacKenzie') 

They still have sex when she wants to. It really doesn't clarify their relationship status but if not having that conversation helps Frannie not freak out, he's fine with it. He loves her and their child so much already. But he doesn't tell her that. She's not ready.

It was Calvin's idea to draw the progress on the barn. He loves seeing their child grow inside her. Eventually Frannie gets so self conscious that she draws a terrible picture of Calvin right next to her growing siluet. Calvin loves it.

When the due date is approaching and Frannie is getting ever more frustrated and worried, Calvin arranges a surprised. Despite the fact that they met at a jazz club and did most of their dating there, they've never actually danced together. It's the perfect way to get Frannie's mind off the birthing video.

Her parents help him set up the lights and the barn is beautiful, second only to Frannie.

The moment is perfect. Including when her water breaks on him. But not when he almost forgets her in the barn.

The birth is long and painful for all involved. Finally, their son is out in the world and he is perfect. Absolutely perfect. He cuts the umbilical cord and everything feels surreal. But finally, they are a family.

When Frannie sleeps off the exhaustion, Calvin looks at their son. He thinks of names. He likes Kim, after his musical mentor. He should get to choose their son's first name, since he won't be a Puddy.

When Frannie wakes up, she doesn't agree. She doesn't like Kim and doesn't see his logic. But when he goes through all the names he can think of, he stumbles on Lester, and Frannie thinks it's perfect. He does look like a Lester. I guess that's how the name keeps going. Sometimes babies look like old men and get old men names. But he loves him all the same.

\---

When they get home with Lester, they think they're ready to be alone. They've read the books, got information from the hospital and the grandparents have already done so much. They should go on their cruise. They'll be fine. 

They couldn't have been more wrong. Everything is a mess, Lester barely sleeps, he cries all the time. Both of them constantly feel like they are failing and every moment of peace is taken advantage off to sleep. When things still looked great, Frannie had promised him some sex, but after the things went, sex is the last thing on either of their minds. They are just trying to keep their kid alive. They can't keep him happy but they can keep him just about alive.

"Come on, Spud, go to sleep," Calvin pleads a tiny cranky but sleepy Lester.

"Why do you call him 'Spud', by the way?" Frannie asks quietly after he has finally fallen asleep. 

"I don't know. It's what my Dad called me when I was a kid. I think it's an 'old country' thing." 

Frannie looks at Lester. "He does look a bit like a potato." 

Calvin kisses her cheek and they go get some sleep themselves. 

\--- 

One day Calvin decides to try to see if his son likes his singing and playing. His grandparents aren't happy about his profession but he manages to calm down his son long enough for him to fall asleep. And while Frannie was never really a groupie she is clearly his biggest fan in this moment. He feels happy and content for the first time in a long while. Until a phone wakes Lester up again. 

\---

The constant sleep deprivation makes one do weird things. Calvin's not sure why he picks up the breast pump and doesn't take it off when Frannie finds him like that. His brain feels fried by the time Frannie's parents get back. Frannie is even worse off.

When Frannie's Mom takes her out, her Dad takes Lester of his hands. He's so tired he only vaguely wonders whether he can take care of a new born and goes straight to sleep.

After Frannie gets back things are a bit better. The grandparents help and they don't feel as terrible all the time. Until Frannie gets fired. 

Calvin had tried to help as much as he could while she was trying to get work done but it was clearly not enough. Frannie becomes depressed, not leaving the bed for weeks. Her parents and Calvin try to help but it's no use. Nothing helps her.

On Frannie's 29th birthday, he's had enough. He gets that she's sad. He misses his band. But they have a child to raise. So he uses some tough love to get her outside.

That backfires on him. Because they finally talk about love. He tells her he loves her, and why. But she can't do the same. She worries they're only together because of Lester. That's not the case for Calvin. But Frannie isn't sure. That tells Calvin all he needs to know. 

He leaves. If they're not together, if Frannie isn't sure she wants him as anything but Lester's father, he can't stay here. He goes back to New York.

It breaks him to leave them but it's for the best for now. 

\--- 

Soon Frannie gets both her visa and her job back. Calvin hears about it from Marina. They meet up in a park, decide on 'custody'. Calvin is happy to be a day time Dad. But that's all he wants to be with Frannie. She doesn't love him, and he doesn't want to spend more time with her than he has to. He's still not over her. 

His apartment isn't the best for a kid but he does his best to make it so. He gets a crib, all the toys and his bandmates are mostly on their best behavior when Lester's there. He loves being a Dad and he loves Lester so much. Even though he can't be with Frannie, at least he got Lester out of it.

One day he looses track of time and Frannie comes up to pick up Lester. He doesn't think about the state of dress of his drummer's girlfriend but he promises she won't hold Lester while she's half naked if that makes Frannie feel better.

They have another tour coming up. He will have to miss Lester again and he hates that but he can't let his band down again. And he has to do something to support his son financially.

\---

It's the day he's supposed to leave on tour. He's sad but excited. This could be really big for the band. But he loves Lester so much. And he will miss seeing Frannie.

When he comes back to get more stuff, his drummer tells him Frannie is frantically looking for him. He's not sure why. Is there a problem with Lester?

He finds her on the roof, looking upset. 

She finally realized she loves him. She has a beautiful, frantic speech about it and the first thing Calvin reacts to is the idea he's dating his drummer's girlfriend. She's relieved she was wrong about that.

"Do you want to give me a second chance?" She pleads. 

"I never really let you go," he tells her and kisses her. 

He's so happy. He gets Frannie and Lester.

"I want to stay."

"I know. " 

"But I have to go." 

"I know. I'll stay here, pining for you. Maybe we'll knit you something." 

Calvin laughs before he kisses her again. 

Then it's time for him to go. They say their goodbyes and will work out the logistics when he gets back. Their still have things to figure out but Calvin's sure they will figure it all out. This time he'll have better cell service. And their little family will live happily ever after. 

**Author's Note:**

> Finns call kids a potato word too, so I am choosing to see mukula=spud and thus Calvin is Finnish American to me too.


End file.
